Austria's international unit labour cost position improved again in 2018

In 2018, the ongoing good economic state of the Austrian manufacturing sector led to an improvement in the unit labour cost position compared with the weighted average of all trading partners. Productivity rose more strongly than in the other countries, while labour cost development was in line with the average. This favourable development was largely determined by the labour cost relation to Germany and the other EU trading partners. Compared with non-European trading partners, the Austrian unit labour cost position deteriorated, partly due to an appreciation of the euro.